April 11th, 2014 (Friday)
My second study tour was with my "Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler" history class, so we headed out for Krakow, Poland to see some important, historical, and pretty depressing WWII sites. We actually flew into Katowice, where we took an hour and a half bus to Krakow. Our first stop in Krakow was at an old church called Czestochowa that featured a Black Madonna, a painting where Mary is depicted with dark skin. Black Madonnas are rather uncommon, and the one we saw is the only one in Poland. We were given some time to walk around the church and its gardens before we had to head out to our hotel, where we had a really nice dinner at the hotel. Afterwards, we watched Schindler's List, a movie about a Nazi part member named Oskar Schindler who helped over 1,000 Jewish people escape Auschwitz. I hadn't seen it before, and although it was extremely sad, it was a good movie that really showed the realities of what so many people were put through during WWII (side note: Ralph Fiennes, who plays Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies, played Goeth [one of the Nazi directors at Auschwitz who killed/ordered the deaths of thousands and thousands of people] in this movie...JK Rowling modeled Voldemort's hatred of mudbloods after Hitler's hatred of the Jewish population. I thought this was really interesting). We went to bed as soon as the movie was over in order to be rested for the long and emotionally strenuous day ahead of us.
April 12th, 2014 (Saturday)
Today was the day we were scheduled to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. Auschwitz was the main camp (a labor camp), whereas Birkenau was a death camp that was just a part of Auschwitz, and we were fortunate enough to be able to tour both. It was about an hour and a half away from our hotel, so our instructors put on a documentary for us to watch (although since this was at 8 in the morning, I'm not quite sure what happened after about twenty minutes in, and I'm not sure my classmates could tell you either). Arriving was almost surreal; standing on the same ground where millions of people were murdered was mind-blowing in the worst possible way. We also had absolutely gorgeous, perfect weather, and it almost felt wrong to be in such a terrible place on such a nice day. After walking through the main gates (with the infamous phrase "work sets you free" written above the entrance), we saw the Polish army barracks, Block 11, and a room full of hair, shoes, suitcases, and other belongings recovered from the camp after it was liberated. We saw the cell where Maximillian Kolbe was imprisoned in when he offered to die in place of another inmate, a book listing the names of the millions Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust, and walked through the gas chambers and crematoriums. Once our tour of Auschwitz ended, we had a short break and then we headed out to Birkenau, which was only a few minutes away by bus. Birkenau was a death camp, meaning that people were killed upon arrival. The living quarters were merely buildings where people waited to die, since the Nazis could only get rid of a certain number of bodies a day. We walked along the railroad tracks where trains came in and learned about how the prisoners themselves had to build those tracks. Then, we saw a huge memorial dedicated to the lives lost in the camps, with plaques written in over thirty languages. We also toured the rooms where prisoners were sent to upon arrival where they were tattooed and registered to work. We saw the remains of "Canada" (the warehouse where prisoners went through confiscated belongings looking for gold and other things the Nazis could sell to make money), several different crematoriums, and ended with standing near a lake where many of the prisoners' ashes were dumped. As we left, we were allowed to climb to the top of one of the watchtowers and see the entire camp.
I don't quite honestly know how to describe the feeling of standing in Auschwitz, as there was a totally different feel compared to the concentration camp I went to in Berlin. Although that one was severely depressing as well, Auschwitz is just so much more well-known and had the most murders committed there. I've never seen something as harrowing and scary as the fingernail scratches on the walls of the gas chambers. I never thought I would be standing in the place I had studied for so many years in my history classes, the place where millions of lives were lost, the place where families were destroyed and good, innocent people were tortured for absolutely no reason. The crimes that occurred there are ones that our generation cannot let happen again, and we're the ones responsible for ensuring the story of the Holocaust doesn't fade away with its last survivors.
My second study tour was with my "Rise and Fall of Adolf Hitler" history class, so we headed out for Krakow, Poland to see some important, historical, and pretty depressing WWII sites. We actually flew into Katowice, where we took an hour and a half bus to Krakow. Our first stop in Krakow was at an old church called Czestochowa that featured a Black Madonna, a painting where Mary is depicted with dark skin. Black Madonnas are rather uncommon, and the one we saw is the only one in Poland. We were given some time to walk around the church and its gardens before we had to head out to our hotel, where we had a really nice dinner at the hotel. Afterwards, we watched Schindler's List, a movie about a Nazi part member named Oskar Schindler who helped over 1,000 Jewish people escape Auschwitz. I hadn't seen it before, and although it was extremely sad, it was a good movie that really showed the realities of what so many people were put through during WWII (side note: Ralph Fiennes, who plays Voldemort in the Harry Potter movies, played Goeth [one of the Nazi directors at Auschwitz who killed/ordered the deaths of thousands and thousands of people] in this movie...JK Rowling modeled Voldemort's hatred of mudbloods after Hitler's hatred of the Jewish population. I thought this was really interesting). We went to bed as soon as the movie was over in order to be rested for the long and emotionally strenuous day ahead of us.
April 12th, 2014 (Saturday)
Today was the day we were scheduled to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. Auschwitz was the main camp (a labor camp), whereas Birkenau was a death camp that was just a part of Auschwitz, and we were fortunate enough to be able to tour both. It was about an hour and a half away from our hotel, so our instructors put on a documentary for us to watch (although since this was at 8 in the morning, I'm not quite sure what happened after about twenty minutes in, and I'm not sure my classmates could tell you either). Arriving was almost surreal; standing on the same ground where millions of people were murdered was mind-blowing in the worst possible way. We also had absolutely gorgeous, perfect weather, and it almost felt wrong to be in such a terrible place on such a nice day. After walking through the main gates (with the infamous phrase "work sets you free" written above the entrance), we saw the Polish army barracks, Block 11, and a room full of hair, shoes, suitcases, and other belongings recovered from the camp after it was liberated. We saw the cell where Maximillian Kolbe was imprisoned in when he offered to die in place of another inmate, a book listing the names of the millions Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust, and walked through the gas chambers and crematoriums. Once our tour of Auschwitz ended, we had a short break and then we headed out to Birkenau, which was only a few minutes away by bus. Birkenau was a death camp, meaning that people were killed upon arrival. The living quarters were merely buildings where people waited to die, since the Nazis could only get rid of a certain number of bodies a day. We walked along the railroad tracks where trains came in and learned about how the prisoners themselves had to build those tracks. Then, we saw a huge memorial dedicated to the lives lost in the camps, with plaques written in over thirty languages. We also toured the rooms where prisoners were sent to upon arrival where they were tattooed and registered to work. We saw the remains of "Canada" (the warehouse where prisoners went through confiscated belongings looking for gold and other things the Nazis could sell to make money), several different crematoriums, and ended with standing near a lake where many of the prisoners' ashes were dumped. As we left, we were allowed to climb to the top of one of the watchtowers and see the entire camp.
I don't quite honestly know how to describe the feeling of standing in Auschwitz, as there was a totally different feel compared to the concentration camp I went to in Berlin. Although that one was severely depressing as well, Auschwitz is just so much more well-known and had the most murders committed there. I've never seen something as harrowing and scary as the fingernail scratches on the walls of the gas chambers. I never thought I would be standing in the place I had studied for so many years in my history classes, the place where millions of lives were lost, the place where families were destroyed and good, innocent people were tortured for absolutely no reason. The crimes that occurred there are ones that our generation cannot let happen again, and we're the ones responsible for ensuring the story of the Holocaust doesn't fade away with its last survivors.
April 13th, 2014 (Sunday)
After an amazing breakfast at our super nice hotel, we took a quick tour of the Getsapo prison cells before heading out to Kazemierz, the Jewish quarter in Krakow. We walked through Remuh Snagogue and its attached cemetary, an outdoor marker, and saw some of the locations used in scenes in Schindler's List. We had a few hours of free time afterwards, so Nick, Suzette, and I decided to hit up the Krakow Zoo for a bit of lightheartedness. They had zebras, leopards, pygmy hippos, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, and ton of different types of birds. It was the perfect way to cheer us up after a tough couple of days. When we returned from the zoo, our class headed to a museum where we listened to Holocaust survivor Lidia Maksynowicz talk about her stay in Auschwitz/Birkenau as a child during WWII. It was incredible (in a horrible way) what the Nazis put her through, especially as a child. At just three years old, she was tattooed (seeing her actual number was unreal), taken away from and forbidden to see her mother, watched her grandparents be taken to a gas chamber upon their arrival, and had medical experiments conducted on her by Dr. Mengele. After speaking with her, we went back to the Jewish quarter for dinner at a Jewish cuisine restaurant (where one of our waiters looked like Kostos from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie --swoon--). After dinner, Nick, Suzette, Katie, Alex, Ryan, and I went to a bar called Omerta that was modeled off the Godfather movies.
After an amazing breakfast at our super nice hotel, we took a quick tour of the Getsapo prison cells before heading out to Kazemierz, the Jewish quarter in Krakow. We walked through Remuh Snagogue and its attached cemetary, an outdoor marker, and saw some of the locations used in scenes in Schindler's List. We had a few hours of free time afterwards, so Nick, Suzette, and I decided to hit up the Krakow Zoo for a bit of lightheartedness. They had zebras, leopards, pygmy hippos, monkeys, giraffes, elephants, and ton of different types of birds. It was the perfect way to cheer us up after a tough couple of days. When we returned from the zoo, our class headed to a museum where we listened to Holocaust survivor Lidia Maksynowicz talk about her stay in Auschwitz/Birkenau as a child during WWII. It was incredible (in a horrible way) what the Nazis put her through, especially as a child. At just three years old, she was tattooed (seeing her actual number was unreal), taken away from and forbidden to see her mother, watched her grandparents be taken to a gas chamber upon their arrival, and had medical experiments conducted on her by Dr. Mengele. After speaking with her, we went back to the Jewish quarter for dinner at a Jewish cuisine restaurant (where one of our waiters looked like Kostos from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movie --swoon--). After dinner, Nick, Suzette, Katie, Alex, Ryan, and I went to a bar called Omerta that was modeled off the Godfather movies.
April 14th, 2014 (Monday)
We started out Monday in what used to be the Jewish ghetto before the Jewish people were moved to concentration camps. From there, we went to Oskar Schindler's factory, which has since been turned into a museum. The museum was really interactive, which made it fun to go through. We had a little free time in the afternoon, so Suzette and I walked around a mall near our hotel for a little bit before heading back to the room to change into some nice clothes for a piano concert our class was going to later that night. We ended up watching a fascinating cartoon about a dead dragon that came back to life and stole a magic horseshoe back from an evil snowman, an enjoyable fifteen minutes although we couldn't understand one thing that was being said, as it was all in Polish. Before the concert, our class watched a movie called Katyń. It was good, although I didn't really understand what was happening some of the time and didn't know who most of the characters are, so I'm blaming that on the fact the movie was completely in Polish, so we had to read the subtitles, rather than the fact I might have dozed off for a little bit and missed some important parts of the movie. Once the movie finished, we went to the concert, where a super talented guy named Pawel Kubica played pieces by Chopin. Once the concert ended, Alyssa, Evan, Suzette, Aaron, Kat, Abbey, and I went to a bar by the Schindler's List stairs for dinner and drinks.
We started out Monday in what used to be the Jewish ghetto before the Jewish people were moved to concentration camps. From there, we went to Oskar Schindler's factory, which has since been turned into a museum. The museum was really interactive, which made it fun to go through. We had a little free time in the afternoon, so Suzette and I walked around a mall near our hotel for a little bit before heading back to the room to change into some nice clothes for a piano concert our class was going to later that night. We ended up watching a fascinating cartoon about a dead dragon that came back to life and stole a magic horseshoe back from an evil snowman, an enjoyable fifteen minutes although we couldn't understand one thing that was being said, as it was all in Polish. Before the concert, our class watched a movie called Katyń. It was good, although I didn't really understand what was happening some of the time and didn't know who most of the characters are, so I'm blaming that on the fact the movie was completely in Polish, so we had to read the subtitles, rather than the fact I might have dozed off for a little bit and missed some important parts of the movie. Once the movie finished, we went to the concert, where a super talented guy named Pawel Kubica played pieces by Chopin. Once the concert ended, Alyssa, Evan, Suzette, Aaron, Kat, Abbey, and I went to a bar by the Schindler's List stairs for dinner and drinks.
April 15th, 2014 (Tuesday)
Our last full day in Krakow was pretty mellow, as our program didn't have a whole lot planned. We walked through the Old Town (the city center) and walked through the Wawel Castle. We saw its cathedral and climbed the bell tower, where we had a stunning view of the city of Krakow. We were able to go to a special exhibit in the castle where they were showcasing Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting "Lady with an Ermine." Afterwards, we had a quick tour of the museum at Krakow University, saw St. Mary's Church, and walked through the market square in the city center before we were on our own for the rest of the day. Tired and not wanting to be out in the cold and rain, we grabbed a quick lunch consisting of tea and soup and then went back to the hotel. I napped and then met up with Suzette and Alyssa later that night, when we ordered pizza and watched "PS I Love You" aka swooning over Gerard Butler for a solid two hours. It was a relaxing way to end a busy few days.
Our last full day in Krakow was pretty mellow, as our program didn't have a whole lot planned. We walked through the Old Town (the city center) and walked through the Wawel Castle. We saw its cathedral and climbed the bell tower, where we had a stunning view of the city of Krakow. We were able to go to a special exhibit in the castle where they were showcasing Leonardo DaVinci's famous painting "Lady with an Ermine." Afterwards, we had a quick tour of the museum at Krakow University, saw St. Mary's Church, and walked through the market square in the city center before we were on our own for the rest of the day. Tired and not wanting to be out in the cold and rain, we grabbed a quick lunch consisting of tea and soup and then went back to the hotel. I napped and then met up with Suzette and Alyssa later that night, when we ordered pizza and watched "PS I Love You" aka swooning over Gerard Butler for a solid two hours. It was a relaxing way to end a busy few days.
April 16th, 2014 (Wednesday)
After an early rise and another great breakfast, our class checked out of our hotel and loaded onto a bus for our last activity in Poland: a salt mine tour. I thought this was a really random way to end the trip, but it ended up being super interesting and although our tour finished later than expected and we were all a little anxious about being late to our flights and trains, it was a really cool experience and the salt mine really fascinated me. It was over 700 years old and consisted of over 2000 chambers. We walked over 400 feet below ground and toured a lot of the different chambers and learned about how the salt mine worked while it was still active. We ended up making it to the train station in plenty of time for me to catch my train to Warsaw, where I then had to catch another train from the station to the Chopin airport, where my adventure to Croatia for spring break begins!
After an early rise and another great breakfast, our class checked out of our hotel and loaded onto a bus for our last activity in Poland: a salt mine tour. I thought this was a really random way to end the trip, but it ended up being super interesting and although our tour finished later than expected and we were all a little anxious about being late to our flights and trains, it was a really cool experience and the salt mine really fascinated me. It was over 700 years old and consisted of over 2000 chambers. We walked over 400 feet below ground and toured a lot of the different chambers and learned about how the salt mine worked while it was still active. We ended up making it to the train station in plenty of time for me to catch my train to Warsaw, where I then had to catch another train from the station to the Chopin airport, where my adventure to Croatia for spring break begins!